[Vision2020] Avoiding Frankenfoods? Shop in Moscow.

[Mark Solomon]

Roger,

It's not that simple. Here's a link to the last issue of High Country 
News and their article on Roundup Ready alfalfa. Story is based in 
Nampa. In a nutshell, making crops Roundup tolerant by genetic 
engineering is creating Roundup tolerant weeds as they adapt to the 
new Roundup-rich environment and threatening an entire crop whether 
you are using Monsanto seeds or not.

http://www.hcn.org/servlets/hcn.Article?article_id=17054

Evolution is a multi-faceted process with species adapting to how 
other species interact with them. No species exists in an 
evolutionary isolation bubble.

Mark

At 11:15 AM -0700 6/25/07, lfalen wrote:
>The concept of Frankenfoods is anti-science and anti-progress. 
>Genetic engineering is no different than selective breeding. It just 
>speeds uo the process. Genetic engineering is a great tool that is 
>used to improve products and increase productivity. There is no 
>danger from these products. Every new improvement has been opposed 
>by unfounded fears. X-rays, irradiation of food, you name it. The 
>biggest danger, may be  all the additives and/ingredients that are 
>in most processed foods to   eople with various food allergies( Soy 
>etc). This can be handled by reading the labels.
>
>Roger
>-----Original message-----
>From: "Bill London" london at moscow.com
>Date: Mon, 25 Jun 2007 10:48:44 -0700
>To: vision2020 at moscow.com
>Subject: [Vision2020] Avoiding Frankenfoods?  Shop in Moscow.
>
>>  OK.  So, this is an article about the Moscow in Russia....but it's 
>>still interesting...BL
>>
>>    Want to be sure it's GM-free? Buy food in Moscow
>>    By James Kilner
>>    Reuters
>>    Posted: 2007-06-24 19:17:07
>>    MOSCOW (Reuters) - Moscow next week introduces a city-wide label 
>>to identify GM-free foods, a move ecologists hail as 
>>ground-breaking but which foreign producers say is complex and 
>>costly.
>>
>>    A handful of individual food producers around the world already 
>>use labels certifying their food is free of genetically modified 
>>elements -- but this is the first large-scale political effort to 
>>introduce such a system, Greenpeace says, expecting it to be 
>>watched by others as a test-case.
>>
>>    "These labels are important for consumers so they know which 
>>companies keep a tight control on ingredients in their products," 
>>Greenpeace's GM researcher in Russia, Natalia Olefirenko, said.
>>
>>    After an official -- voluntary -- inspection producers will have 
>>the right to carry Moscow's GM-free label for a year.
>>
>>    The European Union  already insists products which contain more 
>>than 0.9 percent of GM-enhanced ingredients must say so on the 
>>packet, but environmentalists argue that does not go far enough.
>>
>>    "It's very important for the rest of the world to watch Moscow," 
>>Olefirenko said.
>>
>>    Greenpeace estimates around 80 percent of Russian produce 
>>contains no genetically enhanced ingredients, in line with other 
>>developing countries, against only about 20 percent in the EU and 
>>richer countries.
>>
>>    But Greenpeace said parts of the EU could follow Moscow's lead 
>>if it is a success, although the label should remain voluntary.
>>
>>    Foreign food producers say that is just one of the problems the 
>>label brings.
>>
>>    Supermarkets eager to curry favour with Moscow's government have 
>>hinted they will only stock products carrying the GM-free label -- 
>>and signals from the authorities suggest the label will effectively 
>>be obligatory, producer lobby groups say.
>>
>>    "And it's all extra costs," said Alexei Popovichev, head of 
>>Rusbrand which represents big Western producers such as Nestle and 
>>Kraft. "It involves special testing, special packaging and the 
>>costs will be passed on to the consumer."
>>
>>    Small domestic producers will probably feel the burden of the 
>>extra costs hardest as they will not be able to spread them through 
>>economies of scale, he said.
>>
>>    Western businesses also argue the GM-free label could mislead 
>>customers into buying poorer products because the assertion that 
>>foods contain no GM-ingredients could be misread as a signal that 
>>all the ingredients are of high-quality.
>  >
>>    ARGENTINIAN APPLES
>>
>>    Greenpeace does warn there is a potential flaw in the Moscow GM 
>>label, saying the testing system chosen by Moscow is untried even 
>>though it says over $2 million has already been spent buying 
>>equipment for laboratories owned by a Moscow businessman.
>>
>>    The project, an initiative of Moscow's 70-year-old Mayor Yuri 
>>Luzhkov, comes to a city where ecological concerns are not 
>>typically high: traffic chokes Moscow's roads, residents throw out 
>>rubbish with scant regard for recycling and the centrally 
>>controlled heating grinds out warmth during even the mildest winter.
>>
>>    Russia lags behind in the growing multi-million-dollar organic 
>>food industry -- Moscow has just one self-styled organic 
>>supermarket.
>>
>>    Called Grunwald, it is tucked away under an 18-storey concrete 
>>apartment block in a leafy, green suburb 30 minutes west by metro 
>>from the centre of Moscow.
>>
>>    Foreigners and wealthy Russians who live in nearby gated 
>>communities and dachas form the bulk of the customers, Marina 
>>Goldinberg, the supermarket's marketing manager, said.
>>
>>    All the products in the store -- and everything is foreign -- 
>>have been certified to be GM-free.
>>
>>    On a weekday mid-afternoon visit the handful of middle-aged 
>>women browsing the displays wore designer sunglasses on their heads 
>>and the latest fashion from London and Paris.
>>
>>    They inspected GM-free apples from Argentina, which cost around 
>>$12.50 per kg, and wild salmon from Sweden at $80 per kg.
>>
>>    "When this new law comes in we will stock locally grown and 
>>produced food, prices will drop and more and more people will shop 
>>here," Goldinberg said.
>>
>>    And Dmitri Yanin, head of Russian consumer group KonFOP, said 
>>research appears to suggest GM-free produce is not a priority for 
>>most Russians.
>>
>>    He said research last year showed 60 percent of food buyers in 
>>Russia said price was the most important factor in choosing what to 
>>buy. Just over 5 percent picked ingredients.
>>
>>
>>    Copyright 2007 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. 
>>Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by 
>>framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior 
>>written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any 
>>errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in 
>>reliance thereon.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> 
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